One More Time

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been trying to improve the auditor’s report since 2011. They keep running into stiff headwinds that just won’t go away.

Maybe the last obstacle remaining is getting their overlord, the SEC, to sign off on the proposed revision of the auditor’s report. The PCAOB finalized it around the beginning of June.

On July 21st, the SEC gave constituents one more chance to register their concerns - or to just dump on the proposal, if that’s what they want to do. The comment period runs until Friday, August 18.

I think the proposal has a lot of merit, and would enhance the information flow between the auditors, audit committees and the parties that employ them - the shareholders. Other countries have been able to make this work, but the United States can’t seem to muster the willpower.

If we want to make our markets attractive to capital, there’s more to the process than the myopic “simplification” and “streamlining” efforts that pass for improvements to the status quo. I’ve put together a letter to the SEC in support of the PCAOB’s standard. If you want to write your own, here’s where to send it.